The writer, Richard Wilkins, who has now apologised for the misinformation, claimed that the singer’s appearance on American TV was proof that she had not undergone emergency dental surgery, her publicised reason for cancelling the shows.

She told KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show: “I was really upset because my fans were really upset and that’s the kind of thing that I think is so dangerous, to say stuff like that. I don’t ever want to let people down unless I really, really have to. It was a health thing that I had to take care of and it came at the worst possible time.”